Grinding-fluid-circulating system



G. BROWN GRINDING FLUID GIRCULATING 5YSTEM Filacl larch 51. 1W2].

' 1 pump chamber, the fluid overflowing from -Fatented May id, 11923.

lhdtihdd? GREGORY BROWN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO NORTONCOMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

GRINDING-FLUID-CIRCULATING SYSTEM.

Application filed March 31, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GREGORY BROWN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at \Vorcester, in the county of \Vorcester and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented certain new an useful Improvements inGrinding-FluidCirculating Systems, of

a spout to the wheel.

which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to grinding machines and more particularly to thecooling or grinding fluid circulating system for such machines.

In the modern grinding machine it is the practice to constantly suppl acopious stream of some grinding fiui such as an emulsion of water andoil, to the .area of contact of the wheel and work to cool these partsand also to carry away the metal chips and the abrasive material wornoff from e wheel. The grinding fluid is usually pumped from a tank whichmay be integral with the base of the machine or removable therefrom forcleaning purposes, through conduits and After it leaves the wheel andWork it is laden with chips and particles of abrasive and is drainedback to the tank in which the coarser particles settle wheel.

out and the fluid is again pumped to the In most cases the tank isdivided into two chambers, a settling chamber and a the former intothelatter. Most of the solid material is left in the settling chamber butsome of the finer particles will be carried over into the pump chamberand returned to the wheel and work. This abrasive grit, in 'assing overthe work, may become wedge in between the rotating wheel 40 and themetal surface and so produce scratches on the work and prevent the pro--duction of the fine finish which is, in some cases, highl desirable.

It is therefore the principal object of my invention to overcome thesedifliculties by 4% tion detriment-ally and to provide'a compact unitarymechanism which will accomplish this result automatically and with theminimum of attention on the part of the operator.

" 111 and separat-in Serial No. 457,554.

With this and other objects in view, my invention also consists incertain devices, arrangements and combinations of parts which will behereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

Inthe drawings which form a part of this specification an in which likereference characters refer to like parts:

Figure 1 is a rear view of a grinding machine showing my inventionapplied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on a larger scale through the main parts ofthe fluid circulatsystem;

ig. 3 is a, detail sectional view showing the manner in which the pumpis suspended and driven; and

Fig. 4 is a similar view taken at right angles to the section shown inFig. 3.

In accordance with my invention, I have discovered that centrifugalaction may be employed to separate the it and other solid particlesfrom. the grin d ing compound and produce a substantially clear fluidwhich will not affect the grinding action detrimentally. I thereforepropose to provide a centrifugal separating mechanism in the fluidcirculating system of a grinding machine and preferably to combinetherewith means, such as a settling tank, which will serve to remove thecoarser particles and permit the centrifugal device to act only upon thefine suspended matter. In order to circulate the fiuid, I utilize aconstruction which will both clean the compound and lift it to. thegrinding wheel and in the form illustrated this function is served bytwo separate mechanisms, a pump and a centrifugal bowl.

In the specific embodiment of my invention shown, the fluid circulatingsystem comprises centrifugal apparatus 1 mounted to cooperate with asettling tank 2 for removing the grit from the fluid. This tank may havea settling chamber 3 and a pump chamber 4, the fiuid being lifted to thegrinding wheel (not shown), which in the type of machine illustrated ismounted on a cross slide 5 and is partially enclosed at the rear by thehood 6, by means of the centrifugal pump 7. This pump 7, which may be ofany desired construction, is here shown as comprising rotary blades 8mountlltltl) ed on the lower end of the vertical shaft 9.

This shaft and the pump casin 10 are suspended from a housing 11 on ehorizontal stud 37 projecting from a plate 36 secured over an opening inthe base of the machine.

A horizontal shaft 14 passes through the center of this stud andisdriven from the motorM at the rear of the machine. Power istransmitted from the shaft 14 to the ump shaft 9 by spiral gears 12 and13 on t 0 respective shafts. The housing 11 can be swung on the stud 12to permit removal of the tank 2. A hood 15 may be provided above thepump casing to stop the upward surge of the fluid in the vicinity of thepump shaft. Liquid entering the pump through opening 16 in the pumpcasmg 1s forced upwardly through conduit 17 to the inding wheel andwork. Some of the fl iiid is. thrown directly into the trough 18 andthat which falls onto the work table 19, which in the type of machineillustrated re- .ciproca-tes past the wheel, flows through collectingchannels to the trough. From the trough it passes by a spout 23 to thesettling tank.

The separator 1 may be of any construction suitable for the purpose andis shown as comprising a bowl 20 provided with a substantially conicalrecess 21 fitting over a mating extension 22 formed on the pump shaft 9.The pump shaft and. bowl may he s lined together to prevent relativerotation.

he bowl is shown as being of a multiple chamber construction, the fluidto be clarified first passing into an inner chamber 24 having radialpartitions 25 forming sediment pockets into which the .heavier and moreeasily se arated particles are thrown, the partly clarified fluid thenpassing through the channel 26 in the bottom.of the bowl into the outerchamber 27 where, by reason of the greater diameter, the maximumcentrifugal force clarifies it of the finer and more diflicultly removedparticles. The clarified fluid is then forced upwardly to the dischargeoutlet 28 where it is caught and collected by an outer casing 29 havingan outwardly and downwardly sloping diaphragm 30 and led to the pumpchamber through a spout 31 as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2.Thecasing 29 may be supported by the top of the housing 11.

Near its upper end the settling chamber 3 is formed with an outletopening 32 through which the overflow fluid is conducted into a conduit33 and from there into a receiving tank 34.- formed on the top of thecasing 29, this tank 34 having an outlet opening in the bottom providedwith a spout 35 extending downwardly into the interior of the innerchamber 24 of the separator bowl. The conduit 33 is made flexible toallow the pump and separator to be swung about the axis of the shaft 14when it is desired to remove the tank 2 for the'purpo'se of empt ing it.Obviousl the separator bowl 20 an casing 29 may e lifted off the end ofthe pump shaft before swinging the pump out of the. pump chamber, ifdesired.

I have shown the settling chamber of the wheel tank or truck providedwith a drainage member 35 sloping away from the discharge orifice andadapted to receive the fluid returned through the spout 23 and conductit to the side of the chamber away from said orifice in order to providea better circulation of the fluid in the chamber. The drainage member issupported from the side of the tank by suitable hangers 38.

While I have shown my centrifugal separating means used in connectionwith a settling tank, it is understood that the settling tank may, undercertain conditions of opera tion, be dispensed with and the separatorrelied on to remove also the coarser particles ordinarily removed by thesettling tank. Under some conditions of operation the pump may even bedispensed with, the ecu trifugal action of the separator being suflicient to return the fluid to the grinding wheel, or a machine combiningthe functions of the separator and the pump may be substituted for theseparate pump and separator shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a grinding machine having a grind- I ing wheel, a circulatingsystem for continuously supplying grinding fluid to the wheel,comprising conduits and means for forcing the fluid through the conduitsand centrifugally separating solid particles from the used fluid.

2. A grinding machine having a grindin wheel and a work table,comprising a flui circulating-system including .a conduit for supplyinggrinding fluid to the wheel, conduits for collecting the fluid from thewheel and table, centrifugal means for separating solid particles fromthe grinding fluid, and a pump for circulating the cleaned fluid throughthe conduit leading to the wheel.

3. In a grinding machine having a grinding wheel, a fluid circulatingsystem comprising a settling tank, a conduit to conduct used fluid fromthe wheel to the tank, a pump to return the fluid to the wheel and meansinterposed between the settling tank and the pump to remove any solidparticles remaining in the fluid after it leaves the tank and therebyprovide clean fluid for the wheel.

4. A grinding machine having a grinding wheel and a work table,comprising a settling tank for receiving grinding fluid, means includingconduits for circulating the grinding fluid from said tank to thegrinding wheel and back to the tank, and a centrifugally actingseparator interposed in fluid, an overflow conduit from the settling 1said conduits for removing solid particles tank to said device, means torotate said defrom the grinding fluid. vice and further clean saidfluid, and means 5. A grinding machine having a grinding including apump and a conduit to supply 5 wheel and a work table, comprising asetsaid cleaned fluid to the wheel. tling tank for coarse particles,conduits from Signed at lVorcester, Massachusetts, this the table toconduct grinding fluid thereto, 30th day of March, 1921.

a centrifugal separator having a rotary device to remove solid fineparticles from the GREGORY BROWN.

